Slicing machine



Nov. 27, 1934. A. M. PETERS 8 SLICING MACHINE Original Filed Dec. 22, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Nov. 27, 1934. A. M. PETERS 1,982,175

' SLICING MACHINE Original Filed Dec. 22, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 dlNVENTO;

7, dia BY do? Wei E Y K Nov. 27, 1934. A M PETERs i 2 1,982,175

' smcme MACHINE I Original Filed Dec. 22, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ATFORNE Patented Nov. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES SLICING MACHINE Adolf M. Peters, New York, N. Y. 1

Refiled for abandoned application Serial No.

71,279, November 25, 1925.

This application December 22, 1930, Serial No. 504,186

4 Claims.

My present invention relates to machines for slicing meat and other material, and has for its objects generally the provision of a machine of the character referred to which shall be of improved construction and operation, and more particularly of such a machine which shall be more economical to manufacture, easier to assemble and dissemble, and shall be madeup of fewer parts, and in which the parts can be more quickly replaced, and the parts of which are subject to less wear and are more eiilcient in operation.

For the attainment of these objects and such other objects that may hereinafter appear or be pointed out, I have illustrated one embodiment o my invention in the drawings wherein;

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the machine with the transversely moving table removed;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational View of the slicing machine on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 partly broken away and looking in the direction of the arrows, with the transversely moving table in position there- Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Before describing my machine, the invention is herein disclosed as embodied in a slicing machine of the type in which there is employed a base 10 upon which is guided for longitudinal reciprocation a carriage 11 to move material past a rotary slicing knife, said carriage being provided with the transversely extending guides 12 and 13 along its opposite edges between which guides is received a table 14 arranged for movement on the carriage toward and from the plane in which the knife rotates and which table 14 is arranged to receive and hold the material to be sliced.

While I will for purposes of convenience in the description illustrate my invention as employed in a conventional type of meat cutter of the character set forth, it will be understood thatthe various features of my invention will be capable of a wider field of utility and therefore my invention is to be given as wide a scope as the language of the claims permit.

In machines of this type, the carriage 11 is generally reciprocated by a crank lever 20 one end of which is pivotally attached to one corner of the carriage 11 as at 21 and the other end of which is pivoted as at 22 to one end of a crank arm 23, the opposite end of which arm is fixed at 24 to rotate with a driven member such as the gear 25 in mesh with a driving member such as the pinion 26 carried upon the shaft 2'7 fixed to the hand wheel 28 rotated by the crank handle 29.

The carriage 11 has its guide 12 in the form of an upstanding flange which is arranged trans versely of the carriage and is undercut and bevelled as shown at 39 and has the oppositely arranged guide 13 in the form of a plate 40 provided at the upper edge with the inturned flange 41 and which plate is yieldably held in close association with one side frame member of the carriage by the spring 42 abutting against a bead 43 of the threaded bolt 44. It will be understood that as many spring assemblies 42, 43 and 44 can be employed as may be desired or found necessary.

- The table 14 has its corresponding transverse edges similarly shaped, the edge 46 being bevelled reversely to the edge39 of the guide 12 so as to fit therebeneath and having at its opposite end the transverse horizontal groove 47 of a dimension to receive snugly therein the flange 41 extending inwardly from the plate 40.

The table 14 is positioned beneath the overhanging wall 39 and the inwardly extending flange 41 by forcing the member 13 outwardly or sidewardly sufliciently to permit of the insertion of the lower end of the table 14 upon which the member 13 will be forced into locking engagement with the table 14 in thejposition shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The meat table 14 is of any preferred or desired character and is provided with upstanding posts 50 and 51 upon which slides the gripping bar 52 having the teeth 53 depending therefrom. This weighted gripping member which may be made of a casting with openings therethrough arranged to receive the posts 50 and 51, is provided at one end with the hollow extension 53 within which may be received mechanism of a conventional type which permits of the free downward gravitation of the bar 52', but prevents any upward movement thereof except upon purposeful manual operation of the lever 62 so as to automatically cause the bar 52 to positively grip and hold the meat on the carrier 14 at all times.

It will be observed upon viewing Fig. 2 of the drawings, that the manually operated lever 62 is positioned within'a portion 69 ofthe casting which is shaped so as to form a convenient hand grip'with the lever positioned therebeneath so that when an operator places his hand upon the casting 69 with his palm upon the top thereof the fingers curling about the casting will naturally position themselves against the lever 62 so as to permit of the simultaneous operation of the lever and of a lifting operation upon the grip 52. It will be observed therefore that this casting 69 is directed inwardly and in the general direction and in the general direction of the plane of the knife, the forward stroke of the carriage bringing the meat on the table 14 into contact with and then past the cutter for a slicing operation and the rearward stroke of the carriage taking the meat out of the contact with the cutter and after the carriage has moved the meat out of contact with the cutter, it is the practice to cause the table to be given a slight increment of movement toward the plane of the cutter. so as to position a new section of the meat in the path of the cutter for the next forward movement of the carriage, and I will now describe the mechanismwhereby I produce such coordinated movements.

Mounted upon the carriage and transversely thereof, is the stub shaft 70 and fixed to this stub shaft 70 preferably at one end thereof and depending therefrom is the arm 73 at the free end of which is carried the ball roller 74 preferably mounted for free rotation about its vertical axis.

The crank lever 20'is widened intermediate its shown as parallel; the description of one of these walls will therefore sufiice for both. Each wall is made up of the curved surfaces or sections '75, 76 and 77, the end sections or surfaces 75 and 77 beingpreferably curved concentrically with the pivot 21 about which the crank arm 20 swings with reference to the carriage 11. The intermediate section'or surface 76 of each of the walls definingthe slot 81 is however eccentric with reference to such pivot. v

The slot 81 is of a width so as to freely receive therein the ball roller 74, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and as the crank arm 20 swings back and forth about its pivot 21, one or the other of the surfaces defining the slot 81 will contact with the ball 74. Assuming now that the position of the crank arm is such that the ball 74 is positioned on that portion of the slot which is defined by the opposite concentric faces 77,

I movement of the crank arm 20 in a counter-clockwise direction will impart no movement to the ball 74 as long as either or both surfaces and 77 are being moved past the ball. This is so because of the fact that those surfaces are concentric with the pivot. 21. However, in the continued movement ofthe crank lever 20 in a counter-clockwise direction, the eccentric surfaces 76 will be moved into. operative relationship to the roller 74 so as to cause either one orboth of them to contact with said roller and due to their eccentric character,: the roller will be moved in the direction away from the pivot 21, and due to the relation-. ship and relative dimensions of the parts, and of the manner of association of the roller 74, with the shaft 70, the shaft 70 will be given a clockwise (Fig. 2) movement about its axis until the eccentric portions 76 have fully passed the ball 74 and the concentric portions 75 have been brought into operative relation thereto. In other words, assuming the crank lever to be at its extreme position on the right in Fig. 1, and a reverse or counter-clockwise movement of the crankarm 20 be held against any movement.

started, the first portion of this movement of the crank arm will tend to hold the roller 74 (and the shaft 70 and the parts controlled thereby) against movement; during the intermediate portion of the movement of the crank arm 20, the shaft 70 will be'given an angular movement in a clockwise.

direction; and in the last portion of the movement of the crank arm 20,'the ball and the shaft and all the parts controlled thereby will again Similarly, in the reverse movement of the crank arm, this same operation will be repeated. In other words, it is only during the intermediate portion of the movement of the crank arm 20 that any movement is given to the shaft 70 and during the other portions of the movements of the crank arm, the crank arm will hold the shaft against retrograde movement for purposes that will be shortly understood.

It will thus be seen that by the arrangement herein disclosed the movement of the shaft 70 is controlled at all times by the surfaces defining the slot 81; and that therefore the control and operationof the shaft 70 is positive and not dependent upon theaction of any spring or similar device. In'addition the length of the slot 81 is such that the walls defining it are at all times in contact with the roller 74;, so that the ball is always in contact with one or more of these walls, and due to the arrangement and character of the element 7 4, and the manner of its support, and due further to the shape of the surfaces 75, 76 and 77,

noises due to the relativemovement of parts are minimized.

It will be understood that ina complete rotation of the crankarm 23, the lever 20 will be given an angular movement from oneside of the dead center through the pivots 21 and 24 to the opposite side thereof and that the full and dotted line position of the lever 20 in Fig. 1 show respectively intermediate positions of this crank lever 20 on opposite sides of said dead center line. By extending the widened portion 80 to one side of the crank and positioning the slot 81 therein at a sufficient distance to one side of the lever 20, the slot 81 will so be positioned that at, no time while the eccentric surface 76 is in contact with the roller ball 74 will-said eccentric surface 76 be on any except one side of the dead center- In fact, upon viewing Fig. 1 itwill be observed that the roller 74 does not move from the eccentric cam surface 76 on to the concentric surface 75 until the crank lever 20 has moved a substantial distance on the other side of the dead center line which in Fig. 1 is shown in dotted lines. Since the carriage is moving forwardly while the crank lever 20 is moving on one side of the dead center and then backwardly when it is moving on the other side of the dead center, it will follow by my construction that during this back and forward movement of the table, corresponding to the movement of the lever 20 from its full line position in Fig. 1 to its dotted line position in said figure that the slot 81 will be forcing the ball roller 74 and with it the stub shaft angularly, in other words, it will be understood that as the crank arm 23 rotates in a clock-wise direction, in Fig. 1, from the side of the dead center line on which the lever is shown as disposed in full lines in Fig. 1, until the deadcenter be reached, it will be reciprocating the table away from the cutter until the dead center line is reached and that as the crank arm 23 continues its movement until it reaches its dotted position on the opposite side of the dead center line, the carriage will be moved in the opposite direction toward the cutterand during this part of the reciprocation of the carriage forwardly and backwardly, the slot 81 will e moving the roller 74 and with it shaft angularly and continuously in one direction and the parts are so positioned and dimensioned that this angular movement of the crank arm 23 from its full position to its dotted position is just about that which occurs when the meat on the table 14 is just receding fully out of contact with the cutter up to the. point where it is again reaching its point of initial contact.

On the return movement of the crank lever 20, the roller 74 will be constrained to return to its original position under the action of the slot walls 81, which occurs during the time that the meat on the table is actually being cut by the cutter.

Mounted upon the stub shaft 70 and preferably on the end of the stub shaft opposed to that on which the roller 74 is momited is the lever pivoted to the connecting link 86 in turn pivoted to the lever '87 by means of a suitable pin 88 or the like. The lever 87 is mounted for free oscillation about the worm shaft 89, and at its opposite end is pivoted the pawl lever 90 carrying the pawl proper 91 at one end thereof and arranged to engage with the teeth of a ratchet wheel 92. A suitable spring 93 arranged within aligned counter-sunk openings in the lever 87 and the rear end of the lever 90 is provided to hold the pawl 91 in engagement with the teeth of the wheel 92 at predetermined periods of time. The teeth of the ratchet wheel 92 are cut radially, that is, the face of each tooth with which the pawl 91 contacts in its feeding operation is out along a radius of the ratchet wheel 92. Moreover, the inoperative face of' the pawl 91 is cevelled so that there will be no resistance to the l fting of the pawl 91 during its receding. move-- ment.

When the roller 74 (and its arm 73) is moved in a clock-wise direction (Fig. 2) as already described, it will cause the stub-shaft 70 to move angularly with it, which in turn will cause the lever 85 to move clockwise in Fig. 3. This movement will carry with it the connecting link 86 whereby the lever 87 will be rotated about the worm shaft 89 to the extent of the full throw of the roller '74. During such movement of the lever 87 the spring 93 will tend to hold the pawl 91 inwardly in engagement with one of the teeth the ratchet wheel 92, and the latter will be correspondingly angularly moved.

From what has been set forth, it will be understood that this forward or operative movement of the pawl lever 90 and with it the ratchet wheel 92 occurs during that movement of the crank lever 20 in which the latter is moving counterclockwise in Fig. 1. This movement of the crank lever 20 occurs during the time which corresponds to the end movement of the carriage during which the meat on the table is out of contact with and in front of the cutter. During the continued counter-clockwise movement of the crank lever 20, the roller 74 will contact with the concentric faces 75 of the slot 81 whereby reverse movement of the roller 74 will be prevented. This reverse movement will not occur until the lever 20 reverses its direction of movement and starts moving clockwise. At that time, the carriage is at its other end position, the meat having just been cut; and not until the concentric surfaces 76 again engage the roller '75 will the stub shaft 70 be rocked into its original position. When the surfaces 77 come into contact with the roller 74, a

similar holding action will again result. It will be understood that the reverse movement of the stub'shaft '70 will cause a return or backward movement of the pawl lever 90, the pawl 91 gliding freely over the inoperative faces of the teeth upon the wheel 92.

The ratchet wheel 92 is fixed to the worm shaft 89 in any preferred or desired manner, such as by thepin 94, and upon the worm shaft 89 is carried the worm 95. The latter, in a manner shortly to be pointed out, engages with and moves the table step by step in the direction of the plane of the knife.

It will be understood, of course, that the teeth of the ratchet are so graduated as to provide for any reasonable movement of the table 14 across the carriage so as to bring the meat beyond the place of the cutter so as to give any desired thickness of slice, it being understood of course, that a throw of one tooth only will provide the thinnest possible slice and a throw of additional teeth will give a multiplying thickness of slice, and to provide for this variation in the effective throw of the ratchet which otherwise will throw'for the full length of substantially 90, I show a member 96 which may be in the form of a disc pivoted to swing about the worm shaft 89 and provided with a surface 97 concentric with the shaft 89. The disc 96 is further provided with a radial slot 98 slidably embracing a pin 99 carried by a member 5 100 which is in the form of a wheel concentric with the shaft89 and provided with a handle grip 101. The member 100 is provided with an annular portion 102 which is provided with a plurality of radial ribs; and a pin 103 (Fig. 1), under the action of a spring, is adapted to engage the spaces between the ribs.

The surface 97 is so positioned as to be engaged by a roller 104 carried by the pawl lever 90 inter mediate the pivot point of the pawl lever 90 and 3 of the spring 93, into contact with a tooth of the ratchet 92, so that the further movement of the pawl lever 90 from this point on will become effective to throw the ratchet 92. provide for a throw of the ratchet 92 to the extent of from one tooth up to the full throw of the pawl lever 90.

The engagement of the pin 103 with the spaces between the ribs upon the member 102 will prevent both accidental movement of the member 100 and overthrow thereof. These spaces are preferably so distanced from each other that each movement of the member 100 from a position in which the pin 103 will move from one space into the next adjacent space will produce a movement of the disc 96 just sufficient to result in a throw of the ratchet 92 equal to one tooth of the ratchet.

Upon viewing Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will be observed that the operating mechanism for the In this way, I can pawl is located entirely upon one side of the machine, and is supported in its entirety by only two elements 105 and 106, both of the latter being suspended beneath the carriage 11 and attached thereto by means of four screws 107. In other words, loosening of only these four screws will immediately permit the withdrawal of the entire mechanism. 1

The table 14 is moved transversely of themachine by the worm 95, the latter being engaged by the lower face of the saddle 108 suspended beneath the table 14 by a support 109. The lower surface of the saddle 108 is madeto approximate the inner surface of a nut cut centrally longitudinally thereof so as to provide the proper threaded engagement between the saddle 108 and the worm Eor the purpose of being able to operate the worm 95 independently of the operation of the stub shaft 70 and its allied mechanism, I provide mechanism which is clearly disclosed in Fig. 4, comprising a sleeve 110 mounted upon the end of the shaft 89 and having a hand lever 111 rigidly attached thereto b-yany suitable means. I have illustratively shown the end of the sleeve 110 screw threaded, and I have shownthe lever 111 provided with a threaded bore adapted to en- 4 gage the threaded end of the sleeve 110, a set screw 112 being provided for binding the interior threads to those of the sleeve so that the lever 111 once mounted upon the sleeve 110 will always move therewith. The shaft 89 is provided at its end with a transverse pin 113 engaging \l-shaped notches 114 extending inwardly from the end ofthe sleeve 110. As a result, when the lever 111 (and the sleeve 110) is initially turned, engage ment with the pin 113 will cause the sleeve 110 to'move inwardly before the shaft 89 is caused to rotate. At its inner end, the sleeve 119 carries a bevelled flange 115 adapted toengage .a conical roller 116 carried by the pawl lever 90 upon the same spindle v11'7 which carries the roller 104. The flange 115 is so arranged, and of such asize, that movement of the sleeve 110 inwardly will cause the pawl lever 90 to beraised out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet Wheel 92. The provision of the pin 113 makes it certain that as long as the lever 111 is being manually operated, the pawl lever 90 will be held inthis raised position. a

As soon as the hand lever 111 is released, a spring 118 encircling the sleeve 110, and bearing at opposite ends against the lever 111 and a bushing 119 respectively, will cause the sleeve 110 to resume its originalposition wherein'the flange 115 is out of engagement with the roller 116. The bushing 119 is preferably held in fixed position by means of a clamp 120 rigidly carried by the carriage 11.

For the purpose of permitting delicate adjustments of the position of the disc 96, the pin 99 is mounted eccentrically upon a rod 122 which is in turn adjustably carried by the member .100. It will be understood that slight rotary adjustment of the rod 122, by means of the nut surfaces 123 and the nut 124, will shift the position of the pin 99 sufficiently to move the disc 96 a very small amount. By this means, the disc 96 may be shifted small amounts of magnitudes less than the amount of one tooth of the wheel 92.

As has been stated, the rotation of the hand wheel 28.not only reciprocates the carriage 11 longitudinally of the frame through the mechanism already described, but through the pawl lever 90 and ratchet 92, the worm 95 is given a rotation to move the meat table 14 step by step toward the plane of the cutter; and to automatically limit this movement and to prevent the table 14 from being moved to a position in which it will come into the path of the cutter 30 and damage the machine, I provide an arrangement for renderingpthe table-moving means ineffective when such position has been reached.

With this object in mind, I provide a portion of the worm 95 in the formof a sleeve125 loosely mounted upon the shaft 89, and having worm threads adapted to register with, and form a continuation of, the worm threads of the worm 95. The shaft 89 extends through a bearing in the member 106, "and intermediate this bearing and the sleeve 125 I provide a sleeve 127 rigidly attached to the shaft 89, as by a pin 128 and provided with a recess into which the outer end of the sleeve 125 projects. This outer end is formed to constitute a ratchet surface having four teeth 1-29. In the sleeve 127 I provide a bore 130 parallel to the axis of the shaft 89 and containing a spring 131 and a pin 132 urged outwardly of said bore by said spring. The pin 132 engages the ratchet surface of the sleeve 125. I

It will :be understood that the turning of the ratchet wheel 92 will rotate the shaft 89, and along with the shaft 89' will rotate the worm 95 and the sleeve 127. There being nothing to prevent the sleeve 125 from turning, the frictional engagement between the pin 132 and the ratchet surface of the sleeve 125 will cause the latter to rotate with theshaft. However, as soon "as the carriage has assumed such a position that the saddle 108 fully "engages with the sleeve 125, the latter will be restrainedfrom further rotation with the shaft 89, and as a result further transverse movement of the carriage 11 will be prevented; the pin 132 in the meantime sliding from tooth to tooth upon the ratchet surface of the sleeve 125. It will be further observed that reverse rotation of the shaft 89 to withdraw the carriage 11 from this extreme position will cause the pin 132 to engage with the operative face of one of the teeth 129, thereby imparting positive rotation to the sleeve 12.5, as a result of which the carriage will be moved transversely in the opposed direction.

It is to benoted that the depth of the notches 114 is slightly greater than the axial distance between the bevelled face of the flange 115 and the face of the roller 116. Asa result, contact will be established between these bevelled faces before the sleeve 110 has moved sufficiently to cause the pin 113 no longer to lie within the notches 114. It is the engagement of the pin 113 with the extreme portions ofv the notches 114 after contact has been established between the bevelled faces referred to, which causes rotation of the sleeve 110 to effect a similar rotation of the shaft 89. It is to be noted further that the provision of two notches 114, diametrically opposed to each other, and the provision of a pin 113 extending radially in opposite directions into these notches, permits of rotation of the shaft 89 in either direction with equal facility.

It will be understood that by means of my arrangement and design of the lever 20 and its method of co-operating and co-acting withtheroller 74, the entire engagement between the roller 74 and the eccentric surfaces '76 may be caused to take place during that portion of the movement when the carriage 11 is practically at a standstill in its end position away from the cutter. In other words, the movement of the crank 23 from its full line to its dotted position (Fig. 1) will cause no appreciable longitudinal movement of the carriage 11 because of the fact that during this movement the dead-center position is either being closely approached or left behind. The result of this is to permit of a smaller longitudinal length of the entire device, for the reason that the entire movement of the roller 74 may be caused to take place within this small area of movement of the crank 23. That is, no extra longitudinal movement of the carriage 11 is necessitated and the maximum amount of longitudinal movement which must be provided for is that which just withdraws the carriage 11 and the meat thereon from the cutter. It will be understood however that the lever 20 may be so designed, if so desired, to effect the engagement between the roller 74 and the surfaces 76 during any other desired portion of the movement of the crank 23, so that if desired the move ment of the roller 7d may be efiected more rapidly or more gradually, according to requirement. I also consider it to be an important feature of my invention to design the lever 20 with the slot 81 positioned substantially to one side of the axis of the lever which extends in a straight line between its end pivot points. The construction permits the entire device to be made of a minimum width, as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

Havin described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. In a feeding mechanism for a slicing machine, the combination with a table, of means for moving said table comprising a member associated with the table and a worm in engagement therewith, said worm comprising a shaft, and a worm section mounted upon the shaft for free rotation relatively thereto, whereby upon movement of the table to the predetermined position wherein said member engages said rotatable section, continued rotation of the shaft will not effect any movement of the table.

2. In a feeding mechanism for a slicing machine, the combination with a table, of means for moving said table comprising a member associated with the table and a worm in engagement therewith, said worm comprising a shaft, and a worm section mounted upon the shaft for free rotation relatively thereto, whereby upon movement of the table to the predetermined position wherein said member engages said rotatable section, continued rotation of the shaft in a direction to advance the table will not effect any movement of the table, and means for causing said rotatable section to move with the shaft upon a movement of the latter in a reverse direction.

3. In a feeding mechanism for a slicing machine, the combination with a table, of means for moving said table comprising a member associated with the table and a worm in engagement therewith, said worm comprising a shaft, and a worm section mounted upon the shaft for free rotation relatively thereto, whereby upon movement of the table to the predetermined position wherein member engages said rotatable section, continued rotation of the shaft in a direction to advance the table will not effect any movement of the table, means for causing said rotatable section to move with the worm shaft upon a movement in a reverse direction, means for rotating the worm shaft to advance the table, and means independent of said last mentioned means for giving the worm shaft a movement to withdraw the table.

l. In a feeding mechanism for a slicing machine the combination with a table, of means for moving said table comprising a member associated with the table and a worm in engagement therewith, said worm comprising a shaft, and a worm section mounted upon the shaft for free rotation relatively thereto, whereby upon movement of the table to the predetermined position wherein said member engages said rotatable section, continued rotation of the shaft in a direction to advance the table will not effect any movement of the table, means for causing said rotatable section to move with the worm shaft upon a movement in a reverse I 

